Reports just reaching us indicate that, President Muhammadu Buhari is probably going to appoint himself as the new Nigerian minister of petroleum resources. According to Buhari’s associate cabinet, the president rather appoint himself than trust anyone else with the main source of Nigeria’s revenue.
The House of Representatives yesterday rejected a move to clear the immediate past minister of petroleum resources, Mrs Diezani Allison-Madueke, and others of any wrongdoing in the allocation of seven Oil Mining Leases (OMLs).
The attempt to exonerate Allison-Madueke by an Ad hoc Committee of the House was sequel to investigation into alleged shady deals involving the former minister and other corporate entities namely the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC), Nigerian Petroleum Development Company (NPDC), Shell Petroleum Development Company (SPDC), Atlantic Energy Drilling Concept Ltd, and Septa Energy Ltd, in respect to the farm-out or allocation of OMLs 4, 26, 30, 34, 38, 41 and 42.
The report of the investigation was submitted and laid before the House since February 13, 2015, by the chairman of the Ad hoc Committe, Hon Ajibola Muraina.
But a motion for the consideration of the said report moved by Muraina at plenary yesterday was rejected apparently due to a recommendation of the committee which sought a clean bill of health to all those involved in the allocation of the OMLs.
‘’That a clean bill of health be given to all the parties involved in this transaction as the entire transaction conformed to all the applicable laws,’’ the committee said in one of its recommendations.
It also suggested that operators in the oil industry should deliberately encourage transparency in their operations in order to avoid unnecessary suspicions.
FRENCH VERSION
